off topic: Late summer

M1

One of the many beautiful things my partner has done on the farm is to replant 57 acres of native grasses.  This was a very interesting project, involved working with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency for free seed, seed drill, and access to very, very expensive selective herbicide to get rid the fescue and broadleaf weeds.  Then controlled burns every two or three years--quite the project, all the local firefighters know us and we pay them to come help.

It's beautiful this time of year, so I just thought I would share some photos.  

Faith,Hope,Love

Thank you for sharing!  It looks like a beautiful part of the country you live in.  I particularly like the photo with the barn in it.  I grew up in a rural part of Michigan and have always loved seeing barns.  Where I am in Florida, you don't see them much.

M1

This is my favorite (my desktop photo actually), but I had a hard time getting it to compress.

Joe C.

WOW, That is quite a project. Beautiful!

Ed1937

What an undertaking! But the results are fabulous.

storycrafter

What an amazing project! Thank you for doing it, and for the beautiful pics.

Iris L.

What beautiful land!

When I was in South Africa, I saw many patches of burned land along the highways.  These were not farms, just bare land along the highways.  We were told that this is from controlled burns.  I had never heard of such before.  Apparently it has a purpose.  Maybe they planned to plant some sort of grass or ground cover later.

Iris

jmlarue

Wow! Quite the undertaking. It really is quite beautiful.

jfkoc

Great share....more about this please including, maybe,  the story about buying that much land.

MaryG123

What a great project!  Thank you for sharing.

Twin Mom

Magnificent!

Cherjer

Beautiful and I am sure there is a story there...to share with us!!

toolbeltexpert

Awesome M1  have the quail come back because of this? I am just the other side of Nashville. My neighbor "the doc" has 100 plus acres and plants sunflowers. That really brings in the gold finch. He also does shataki mushrooms.  I went the other way my farm, it was all fescue and I have let most of it grow up in trees. Ash, oak, hickory and walnut. I was thinking of thinning out some mature trees which was recommended, it would have brought 10k my part but I decided I'll let someone else do that. I like the trees. Poplars grow really well on our farm. Right down the middle of the farm  I am thinning out everything but the willow oak, trees they grow so big and quick I keep it mowed on both sides. I don't now if I will ever get that project done. Someday someone will appreciate that. Right now the bigger ones are 40 plus but some big ones get to 100 plus. I started this when I bought the farm 29 years ago.  I enjoy the view going down my drive.

Josie in Podunk

It’s beautiful.  I know it was a lot of work to get it that way.

Thank you for giving us a glimpse.

Buggsroo

M1,

What a lovely special place, loving the open space along with the amazing star above the barn door. A slice of heaven.

Stuck in the middle

Those pictures make me want to walk into them and not come back.  Thank you.

Joydean

Absolutely beautiful! I too love the barn. Always have been fascinated with barns. Reminds me of being a young girl playing with my brother in my grandpa’s barn in Tennessee! Thank you so very much for sharing! You and your wife had great insights to accomplish such a wonderful project.

Mint

Beautiful

M1

Oh I could tell stories til the cows come home--jfkoc, she bought the property in 1998, planning to retire to it, which she did in 2007.  There was nothing on it then but the old tobacco barn (that's the one in the picture) and a small dilapidated cabin.  First thing she did was renovate the cabin, adding a new bedroom, bath, laundry room, porch, storage room, and tool shed.  Then built a two-acre lake, then planted the native grasses over about three years, fenced everything, then built a screen house on the lake, built the "new" farmhouse and barn in 2007, into which she moved in 2008.  For nine years we'd come out and spend weekends in the cabin as the other things got done, and I'd take a week's vacation every September for "farm week"--first year I took down two miles of barbed wire fence and looked like a pincushion.  Last thing we added was a chicken house and run in about 2012--wired and plumbed it ourselves, which I think about every time I flip on the light switch.  Witched the water line, too--which made a believer out of me, I'd seen it done but never believed it until we did it.

And yes TBE, the point of planting the grasses was to get the quail back--which we have to some extent, though not as much as we'd hoped.  Quail need cover that grows in clumps, which these grasses do, and the pastureland/fescue that's so common now has just about done them in.  But in addition to quail, we have deer, turkeys of course, bobcats, bald eagles, armadillos (which i could do without--invasive species!!), ducks, chickens, and all manner of migrating waterfowl.  Haven't yet seen bear or mountain lions, but they're in the county and there are some remote back areas where I wouldn't be surprised to find them.  We've also replanted a lot of trees, including elms and chestnuts, with the help of a nearby research station.

So a lot of work in the nearly 25 years she's owned it.  I will hate to sell it, but will have to at some point.  It deserves someone who will take as much care of it as she did/we did.  I do claim my sweat equity, but all the concepts and vision were hers.  I can truly say that being with her has been the adventure of a lifetime.

Kibbee

M1 thank you for sharing the photos of your tall grasses.  They are beautiful.  A state park near me has done a lot of prairie restoration work, resulting in acres of walkable meadow with a wide variety of flowers and tall grasses.  My favorite of the grasses is “Turkey Foot”, so called because the seed fronds look like the three toes of a you-know-what.  Not sure if that is its real name, or just a local name hereabouts.

M1

Yes Kibbee, turkey foot is big bluestem-theres some in the pictures if you know it. What we have is a mixture of big and little bluestem, Indian grass (my personal favorite with the big yellow heads), and switchgrass. We haven't been able to stage a burn since 2019, but the farm manager i recently found is going to plan one for next spring. Otherwise the weeds and blackberries will take back over.

JoseyWales

The property and grasses are just beautiful. That must have taken an immense amount of work.

We moved onto our property in 98, too. DH had Pheasants Forever come out and plant about 5 acres of habitat (we have 10 acres). We maintained it for several years, but it's a lot of HARD work. There are still some of the grasses mixed in with the weeds, and lots of black eyed susans still come up. Otherwise it's just overgrown now, except for the paths and areas I mow. DH let it go the last 10 years - dementia took its toll there too. I've been trying to reclaim some of the property from invasive weeds and white mulberry trees. It may be beyond my help.

abc123

Thank you! It's beautiful.

Faith,Hope,Love

Wow M1!!  Thanks for explaining the incredible vision behind the property.  I wish I were there to walk around on it.  It's just wonderful!

toolbeltexpert

M1 your dw has great vision, so much of what we do will be someone else's one day. Sounds like she got to enjoy it as well. Are you getting chestnuts yet. My neighbor the doc had planted some chestnuts, not sure of the variety, but he is starting to get some. He also took advantage of the forestry free tree program and has created his own paradise. Lots and lots of work goes unto these lifetime projects. He Also has a 2 acre pond fully stocked. I have pictures some where of my dw standing where the deep end of his pond long before it was filled.

Jo C.

Hello M; what beauty; the rainbow photo made me yearn to be able to be there and walk down the road with the soft beauty all around, under the blue sky above.  It really is an amazing property; beloved and well cared for.

Your partner has been an amazing person throughout her life, what unique and wonderful  creations came to be through her mind, her spirit, her own hands, and at her direction.  I love the photo of her framing the house - and darned good strong framing too.  She certainly knew her business!  Such a gift and a life well lived.  That property will go on and on giving its peace and beauty to those who are fortunate enough and blessed to be there.

If you ever get the chance, I would love to see a photo of that two acre lake - must be lovely and peaceful.  Each season of the year must also bring its own beauty and change the picture of what one sees across those acres.   You could make a calendar or write a book with photos.  I would love to hear more of the stories - truly.

You two have been quite a pair and like hand in a glove, you have both been well suited sharing and building and caring together.   You now continue on caring in a bit of a different way; you too are a champion in your own right.  Our M1 is also amazing!

Thank you so much for sharing; it is a treat.

J.